TY - BOOK ID - 1693823 TI - American business and political power : public opinion, elections, and democracy PY - 2000 VL - *2 SN - 0226764621 0226764648 9786612679315 0226764656 1282679317 9780226764658 9780226764641 9781282679313 661267931X PB - Chicago : University of Chicago Press, DB - UniCat KW - Political sociology KW - United States KW - Business and politics KW - Public opinion KW - Power (Social sciences) KW - Pressure groups KW - Lobbying KW - E-books KW - democracy, elections, public opinion, campaigning, lobbying, corporations, legislation, special interest, taxation, pollution, product liability, media, news, journalism, policy, accountability, think tanks, business, politics, political science, power, pressure groups, popular sovereignty, coalition, chamber of commerce, nonfiction. KW - United States of America UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:1693823 AB - Most people believe that large corporations wield enormous political power when they lobby for policies as a cohesive bloc. With this controversial book, Mark A. Smith sets conventional wisdom on its head. In a systematic analysis of postwar lawmaking, Smith reveals that business loses in legislative battles unless it has public backing. This surprising conclusion holds because the types of issues that lead businesses to band together-such as tax rates, air pollution, and product liability-also receive the most media attention. The ensuing debates give citizens the information they need to hold their representatives accountable and make elections a choice between contrasting policy programs. Rather than succumbing to corporate America, Smith argues, representatives paradoxically become more responsive to their constituents when facing a united corporate front. Corporations gain the most influence over legislation when they work with organizations such as think tanks to shape Americans' beliefs about what government should and should not do. ER -